BUSINESS FLEET AFRICA | September 2022
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For transport operators, vehicle
accidents represent the single biggest
risk to the profitability of their business.
Road traffic accidents can have far
reaching effects on your business. Apart
from negatively impacting cash flow and
profits, they can also impact the morale
of the organisation.
It is very important for management
to react appropriately in the wake of
such an incident, especially if there has
been a loss of life, as employees and
family members will be watching the
leaders in the business closely during
this time and their behaviour will have
a direct effect on how everyone else
handles the situation.
Running a transport business, espe-
cially in South Africa will unfortunately
entail growth, setbacks and disasters
that need to be managed and very often
in the spur of the moment or under tight
deadlines, because if your fleet stands
still, so does your revenue stream.
The more mileage your fleet covers
on a monthly basis, the higher the risks
of traffic accidents and if your fleet
operates at night the risk is up to three
times more.
“It is therefore imperative to have
an action plan in place that comprises
the procedures and training needed to
deal with the aftermath of an accident.
One of the fundamental pillars of fleet
management is being able to take charge
of a situation when everyone else is in
a state of panic,” says Derick de Vries,
Executive Head of Standard Bank Fleet
Management.
Accidents usually involve third parties
and the costs of an accident is often
much more than the damage to your
own vehicle, this is magnified when fac-
tors such as environmental damage from
cargo spills are added to the calculation.
While not all accidents are severe, it
is imperative that staff is educated with
Accidents and why they
should be avoided